Coc San strives to eliminate gender inequality

Dao women are used to taking care of their children and are under a lot of pressure to have sons to continue the family line and take care of them in their old age.

Born into a family of 7 siblings in the Dao village of Ta Tong Sanh, Coc San commune, Ms. Chao Pet Hang understands the hardships of her parents, especially her mother. She said that in the past, the Dao people's ideology of "respecting men and despising women" was very heavy, women had to work to earn money, manage the family, and take care of the children, while men, after working hours outside, could come home to rest, and did not have to do housework. Not only that, in the matter of children, women also suffered a lot of pressure because they had to try to give birth to a son so that the family would have someone to continue the family line and support them in their old age.

Right in the place where she was born and in the village where she lives, there are still women who give birth to 4-5 daughters but still have to try to have a son, causing their health to gradually deteriorate, even suffering from violence. Girls are not cared for, often only graduating from junior high school, then participating in labor to earn money and get married early. All of this creates a vicious cycle, tying women down. However, fortunately for Ms. Hang, her husband has progressive thinking and is very understanding.

"At the age of 18, I married a Dao man in Lao Vang Chai village, but he didn't care whether we had a son or a daughter. In addition to working outside to earn money, he often did housework and took care of the children with me - things that were only for women. I only finished secondary school, so I was very self-conscious. Before, I just stayed at home and didn't participate in social activities, but it was my husband who encouraged me to participate in village activities and women's association work. From then on, I realized that women in the village had suffered a lot of disadvantages in the past," Ms. Hang confided.

Dao women in Lao Vang Chai village used to only focus on housework, taking care of family, husband and children, and rarely participated in community and social activities.

In 2021, to help both women and men in Lao Vang Chai village escape the vicious circle and better understand the role and value of women in the family and society, Ms. Hang joined the village's Community Communication Team. Here, she and other members promoted the contents of Project 8 on "implementing gender equality and solving urgent problems for women and children". Accompanying her were 9 other members, including Mr. Lo Dieu Phu.

Mr. Lo Dieu Phu, Party Cell Secretary and Head of the Lao Vang Chai Village Community Communications Team, said: The village has 80 households, all of whom are Dao people. Like Ms. Hang's story, he affirmed that the ideology of "male superiority and female inferiority" still exists in the Dao community here. That ideology has been "deeply rooted" through many generations, causing women and girls to suffer many disadvantages, hardships, and even violence, negatively affecting the position and role of women in the family, community and society.

However, that is only a story of previous years. Since Project 8 was implemented in the commune in 2021, including Lao Vang Chai village, the awareness of the people here has had many positive changes. Through meetings in the village and commune and being propagated and encouraged by authorities at all levels, associations, and community media groups at home, the people in the village have understood that women also need to be treated equally with men, giving birth to a son or a daughter is not important, but the health of family members and children being educated properly is important.

“The change is clearly shown by the fact that in the village, there are couples who, although they only have daughters, have decided not to have any more children because they have seen families with only daughters who are well-educated and therefore very obedient and filial. Now in the village, girls are also given more attention, many of them have finished high school and some have gone to college, then returned to work in the commune and village. In the past three years, there have been no cases of early marriage in the village, and the number of cases of gender-related violence has decreased. Many husbands know how to do laundry, cook, and take care of children with their wives. Families are peaceful, the economy has also improved, the number of poor households in the village has decreased significantly, by 5-8 poor households each year,” Mr. Phu shared.

He cited that men in the village have gradually understood and shared the hardships of women and are willing to stand up to protect them. Even in the Community Communications Team, out of 10 members, 6 are men. In addition, many other men have also proactively participated in propaganda sessions to raise awareness of gender equality, protecting women and girls, contributing to making propaganda activities more effective.

Members of the Lao Vang Chai village community communication team and the Commune Women's Union promote gender equality, non-discrimination at birth, and maternal and child health care.

Through the sharing of Ms. Hang and Mr. Phu, it can be seen that Project 8 is an awakening of thinking about the concept of equality.

It is known that Project 8 is currently being implemented in three villages of Lao Vang Chai, Ta Tong Sanh and Ky Cong Ho of Coc San commune. At the time of selecting the locality to implement the Project (in 2021), these were three villages with 100% of households being Dao people (currently nearly 200 households), gender inequality, gender discrimination at birth, and early marriage still exist. However, after more than 4 years of focusing on propaganda to raise awareness, change gender stereotypes, care for material and spiritual life, protect and care for women and children; propaganda on family planning, Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence, Law on Gender Equality, Law on Marriage and Family; enhancing economic empowerment for women..., Project 8 has brought positive results. People in the three villages have changed their "ways of thinking and doing", couples have behaved harmoniously in daily life, husband and wife care for each other, work together to earn money, take care of and raise children, encourage each other to participate in community work and social activities; reduce the number of domestic violence cases related to gender issues; there is no longer child marriage... the number of poor households has also decreased significantly, currently there are 71 poor households.

Notably, the male-dominated ideology has significantly “reduced”, as shown by the difference in the number of male and female children at birth. According to statistics from the Commune Health Station, in 2023, in the three villages above, there were a total of 11 children born, including 7 boys and 4 girls; in 2024, there were 14 children born, including 7 boys and 7 girls; the number of third children has decreased…

After being educated, men in the family changed their awareness, treated men and women equally, took care of their wives, built happiness, and developed the family economy.

Women confidently express themselves and actively participate in activities to protect women and children.

Ms. Tran Thi Hanh - Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, President of the Women's Union of Coc San commune said: These are encouraging results after Project 8 was deployed in the commune. In the coming time, to improve efficiency, the commune will continue to maintain the activities of community communication teams with practical models such as the Gender Club, the "Leader of Change" Club, the "Gender Imbalance at Birth" Club... Thereby, women and girls have more opportunities to communicate, exchange, take care of their health, be cared for, protected and participate more in community and social activities. Along with that, the Project's propaganda activities are integrated into village meetings and conferences; organizing dialogues and competitions for women to speak their "voices", express their views on social issues; encourage and create conditions for women to start businesses and participate in economic activities. In particular, in the near future, we will organize exchanges between the Community Communication Teams of the commune and other communes to learn and study good practices and effective models in implementing Project 8... With these practices, we hope to contribute to bringing equality to women and girls in the area.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/coc-san-no-luc-xoa-bo-bat-binh-dang-gioi-post883050.html